One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant watercress in Santa Maria can be figured out by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Watercress

Frost tolerance for watercress:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Since watercress are barely cold tolerant you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant watercress in Santa Maria is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant watercress and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your watercress may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your watercress indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Santa Maria the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Santa Maria is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Maria it frosts late in the year after February 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your watercress if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Maria

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Santa Maria

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Santa Maria.